The Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe Is the SUV That Wants to Play Sports Car

The days of the unabashedly single-purpose car are slowly, but surely, dwindling down. Today's cars need to be many things to many people, which is how we've arrived at this, the Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe. It has the rather difficult task of splitting the difference between an SUV and a sports coupe, which seems impossible on paper, but shockingly works in reality.

Mercedes-Benz flew me out to Italy to test a German-spec GLC 300 4Matic Coupe on the Autostradas north of Turin and on the beautiful mountain roads above the Aosta Valley. A sporty SUV is an oxymoron, but in this (admittedly idyllic) setting, the GLC Coupe handles itself admirably well.

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Mercedes makes a big deal about how the GLC Coupe is the "sports car among the mid-size SUVs," both in its fastback shape, and with hardware changes from the regular GLC SUV. The Coupe gets a slightly quicker steering ratio than the SUV (15.1:1 vs. 16:1.1), new bushings, and other parts to contribute to livelier handling. As you'd expect, its software calibration has also been adjusted accordingly.

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The rest of the hardware will be familiar to anyone who's driven the regular-old GLC SUV–it has Mercedes' 2.0-liter, 241-hp turbo four paired up with its great new nine-speed 9G-Tronic gearbox. The torque split is slightly rear biased with a fixed ratio of 55:45, but unlike the GLC SUV, you can't have a rear-wheel drive only GLC Coupe in the U.S. With this drivetrain, the GLC Coupe isn't capital-F fast, but it's more than quick enough for the normal sort of person who will buy this. If you want faster though, AMG will eventually offer you a 362-horse GLC43, and an even quicker, AMG-ier, version seems inevitable.

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I think the jury is still out regarding whether nine ratios is too many for a gearbox, but Mercedes' 9G-Tronic feels nearly as quick as a dual-clutch, while still maintaining torque converter smoothness around town. It even makes dual-clutch-like fart sounds on full throttle upshifts, lest you forget for a moment that this is a sporty SUV. Even if nine forward gears is too many, this gearbox shifts much quicker than Mercedes' older seven-speed that's used in the C300 sedan. In fact, I'd say the drivetrain and handling setup in the GLC 300 Coupe feels even sportier than the C300 Sedan.

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At this point, we should probably address the elephant in the room–the GLC Coupe's looks. Personally, I think many of its exterior details are great in isolation, but they don't totally work cohesively as a package. This is to be expected with any four-door coupe SUV, which naturally lends itself to an awkward glass to sheetmetal ratio. Still, the well-executed detailing gives the GLC Coupe a much more upscale look than its primary rival, the BMW X4.

While I won't say it's beautiful, I have a soft spot for oddball designs, and the GLC Coupe is certainly an oddball. It'll also stick out from the rest of the crowd, as any good coupe should, and for some, that'll surely be part of the GLC Coupe's appeal.

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Mercedes has consistently nailed interiors with its most recent cars, and the GLC Coupe is no exception. The C-Class is probably tied with the new Audi A4 for having the best interior in its class in terms of quality, and it easily beats its rival from Ingolstadt in aesthetic terms. The GLC's interior is largely carried over from the C-Class and is easily the best in its class. Leather is buttery smooth, and all the switchgear has a lovely Teutonic tactility.

As far as infotainment is concerned, I prefer Audi's MMI system a little more than Mercedes Command, but only by a small margins. MMI is more intuitive and nicer to look than Command, but not by leaps and bounds. Here's the thing though–you can't get Audi's latest, greatest system on the GLC's main rival, the Q5, so this point is kind of moot. MMI might be the best in the luxury car world, but Command isn't so far behind.

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A beautiful stretch of windy, narrow mountain roads gave us a chance to judge whether Mercedes is accurate in calling the GLC Coupe a"sports car," and surprisingly, they're not as far off the mark as you might expect. While you'd be crazy to call the GLC Coupe a true Sports Car, it really didn't feel out place in the corners, even if it felt huge compared to the endless stream of Fiat Panda 4x4s we shared the road with.

Steering is admirably sharp and body roll is minimal with the dampers set to their sportiest setting. As we said earlier, the 9G-Tronic gearbox suits the Coupe's sporting pretensions very well, and there wasn't any noticeable brake fade on our long descent down the mountain. Again it's not a sports car like a Mazda Miata is a sports car, but if you take the GLC Coupe for what it is (heavy and tall), you'll come away pleasantly surprised.

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The GLC Coupe doesn't have a sort of Jekyll and Hyde split personality like many of today's performance cars, but it does relax quite well when you want it to. On Italy's Autostradas, the Coupe was quiet and comfortable, especially when equipped with Mercedes' Air Body Control suspension setup. Personally, I think this air suspension is well worth paying extra for, but the adaptive dampers of Mercedes' Dynamic Body Control are perfectly fine if you'd rather save the cash.

I briefly sampled a GLC Coupe with the 2.0-liter diesel that's coming to the U.S. in the regular GLC (it's undecided whether the coupe will get it), and while it isn't nearly as sporty as the gas engine, it makes for a wonderfully relaxed cruiser. To me, a regular GLC SUV with the diesel and air suspension would make for an extremely compelling package, but if you want sporty, get the gas-powered coupe.

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Given what it has to do, there was no way the GLC Coupe wouldn't be compromised–it's not as practical as a true SUV and its not as sporty as a true sports sedan. There's simply no way it could be. But if you want something very unique, with a top-notch interior that's also legitimately fun to drive (in spite of the physics working against it), you'll like the GLC Coupe.

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